Fertiliser firm set to launch IPO

The PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertilizer Company is set to make an initial public offering on December 11 before listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

The State-owned enterprise has yet to tie up with strategic foreign partners for a stake sale though it is considering several of them.

General Director Bui Minh Tien told a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on November 25 about the IPO that almost 129 million shares, or over 24 percent of the capital, would be auctioned at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at a reference price of VND 12,000 (US$ 0.57).

Another 25 percent is expected to be sold to strategic investors, including foreign, who would strengthen the company's financial capacity and manage and help improve its performance.

The Government will continue to hold a 51 percent stake.

PVCFC, a member of the PetroVietnam group, was established in March 2011. It has a US$ 900 million plant in Ca Mau province that produces 800,000 tonnes of Phan Dam Ca Mau – Hat Ngoc Mua Vang (Ca Mau Fertilizer – the Pearl of Golden Crops) brand fertiliser a year.

It began commercial production in early 2012.

Last year, though the supply in the market exceeded demand, the company managed to sell around 750,000 tonnes of its products to achieve revenues of almost VND 6.26 trillion (US$ 298 million).

In the first nine months of this year it sold 590,000 tonnes for VND 4.28 trillion (US$ 203.81 million).